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one week in march

I am pretty excited, eh?!

During one week in March I am going to be able to engage with the two biggest influences on my life when it comes to the vocation to which God has called me.

(a) Chris Wright is in New ZealandChris leads the global movement which stewards the legacy of John Stott in an organisation called Langham Partnership International. As a 19yr old I attended the Urbana Mission Convention where I heard Stott expound Romans 1-5 in a series of 50min expositions. I was rivetted. That is the moment when God called me to biblical preaching and I have tried to be faithful to that call ever since - more laterly as a trainer of preachers, which still remains my first love in ministry. Stottie is my hero. Then as a 24 year old - after my theological training in the USA - I attended a pastors' conference in London facilitated by John Stott. One morning during that conference he invited me to his little flat for breakfast - the highlight of my life. I read all his stuff. He has the best grasp of BBC - 'balanced biblical christianity' - of anyone I know. He is the most humble person I have ever met.

Although I don't know Chris Wright that well, he has picked up the baton from John Stott with remarkable precision. He is a wonderful communicator. Those who read this blog know that I think his latest book, The Mission of God, is "one for the ages". And on Monday March 17th at 7pm-ish at Greenlane Christian Centre in Auckland he will be speaking to that book at a public meeting.

see http://www.langhampartnership.org/

Later that very same week...(b) DA Carson is in New ZealandAs my grandfather had forbidden me to attend the college of which I am now Principal (!) - and because I had just become engaged to Barby, fortuitously studying at Wheaton College 60mins away, I headed off to Trinity Evangelical Divinity School at 21 to complete an MDiv - the youngest of 600 MDiv students as I was to discover. I showed up one hot August morning for 'suicide-Greek' - six days a week for six weeks, seeking to master that blessed Wenham textbook. My tutor? A very young Don Carson. [His Teaching Assistant? One Tony Plews, a fellow Kiwi who is Director of the Langham affiliate here in NZ, and a lifelong friend). I was to take 6 or 7 courses with Don Carson over three years. Those classes laid the foundation for my life. It is as simple as that.Sure, his intellect is unmatched; his scholarship unrivalled and in his writing he knows how to go for the jugular in defending the truth. Sure, this caused me to struggle with contextualising my training to the NZ cultural and church context. It took me some years to get through the guru-busting phase and beyond a slavish following of WWCS - "What would Carson say?". It was a good process for me. And I have seen a side of Don that few see. His gentle way with people. His passion for mission. And oh, his prayers at the start of class! His love for Jesus. And once while seated around our dining room table, my little Joseph asked him "Are you Jesus?" Gee - that says something, doesn't it? I will be forever grateful that God brought Don Carson into my life in my molten years.

Don is speaking at an Easter Convention at Hamilton Reformed Church on 21st & 22nd March - three sessions each day at 1pm, 3:30pm, and 7pm.The venue is at 9 Aberdeen Drive, Dinsdale. (ph Pieter - 07 853 3144)I will be sneaking out from the nearby Easter Camp at Mystery Creek to take some of it in.

And if you are anywhere near either of these venues ... (I think you know what I would say - but I'll leave it open-ended and let you fill in the gaps!)

It is Easter time. The high point of the Christian year. There are conferences and camps - with thousands in attendance - all around the world. Hundreds of them would just love to have Don speaking for them.

And where will Don be this Easter? One of the leading evangelical scholars in the world? He will be pouring out his mind and heart as he opens God's word (and its Nehemiah, folks - be in!) for a cluster of three smallish Reformed churches in little-ish Hamilton, New Zealand.

He has always been like this. A few years back we invited him to Carey. We were struggling with establishing public events in the calendar. Never will I forget sitting in a church barely one-third full ... (and going "gulp")

Humility is the sweetest grace of all. It is the common denominator in the people God chooses to use. It is about character long before it is about gifting. I admire Stottie and the Big Don because of this humility in them. There is an awful lot of self-promotion clinging to speakers and writers and bloggers today - but not with these two.

Just had Chris Wright's topic for the Monday evening (17th March) meeting confirmed - for those near enough to attend:

"God, Israel, and the Future of the Nations in Biblical Perspective"

- as Chris opts to speak about what he is most "passionate and enthusiastic: the vision that the Old Testament provides (and the New Testament affirms) of God's intentions for the nations ultimately, and just how breathtaking it is."